So dramatic, in fact, that it is a completely false bubble. Distributors in Russia spent December racing to stock their warehouses full to the brim of beer, ahead of a three-fold rise on excise tax in January. Carlsberg flagged up the trend in December.

Russia's beer market shrank by nearly a tenth in volume for the first nine months of 2009 and Carlsberg believes that the sector is facing a similar decline in 2010.

The vacuum left by the distributor stockpiling will exacerbate the situation.